U.S. Journalists On Visit To N.Z.

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30938, 20 December 1965, Page 18

U.S. Journalists On Visit To N.Z.

A group of United States journalists representing widely different publications is visiting New Zealand as guests of Air New Zealand, Ltd., on the inaugural Los Angeles to Auckland flight which arrived on Thursday. During their six-day stay they are the guests of the Tourist and Publicity Department.

Six of the group arrived In Christchurch yesterday after visiting Mount Cook, Queenstown and Milford, firmly convinced that New Zealand has wonderful attractions for the oversees tourist Their only regert is that their visit is so short Mr B. Buchwach, managing editor of “The Honolulu Advertiser,” said the party agreed that New Zealand was a “tremendously attractive package” for tourists, and each would play a part in telling their readers about it His own most impressive experience had been the flight from Queenstown to Milford and return. “The contrast between alpine scenery and the green countryside is magnificent. People can never get their fill of that sort of thing, and I don’t see why they should travel to Europe when they can come to New Zealand.” he said. Mr J. R. Roberson, a senior editor ' of "Holiday,” a New York monthly with a circulation of one million, said he was trying to capture something of life in New Zealand to take back to his readers. No member of the party would presume to write about New Zealand after such a brief visit, but only about those attractions which they had seen, and bow they appealed to them. Mr M. Litton, travel editor of “Sunset” magazine, Menlo Park, California, said his publication was limited strictly to the fields of travel, home building, gardening and cooking. It had a monthly circulation of 850,000 limited to the west coast states of the United States. Advertising

content also was limited broadly to the four fields covered by the magazine. He said he could not pretend to write an article on New Zealand after only five days in the country but be intended to do a series on whst he had seen which might induce people to visit New Zealand. Among these were “What to do on a rainy day at Mount Cook,” and “A flight over Milford Sound.” Also in the party visiting Christchurch are Mr W. Booth, an editor of the “National Geographic” magazine, Mr M. Davis, publicity officer for the Pacific Area Travel Association, and Mrs G. Hesse, travel editor for the San Francisco “Examiner-Chronicle." They are accompanied by Mr C. H. Hall, • supervisory journalist of the Tourist and Publicity Department.